Legislative Advocacy

ABC is Florida’s largest professional management association of commercial, industrial and institutional general contractors, specialty contractors, associates and suppliers.

Ranked by the U.S. Congress among the most influential organizations in the country, ABC was founded on and remains committed to our three-fold mission of safety and skills training, government and political affairs, and business development.

Current Federal Issues

The House and Senate return this week before the August recess (at least for the House) with the House on a legislation to address affordable health care options, including a package of bills to increase access to lower premium plans and expand health care savings accounts and implement a two year delay in the Obamacare Health Insurance Tax (HIT). The House also hopes to take up the conference report for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and a measure that extends funding for the nation’s National Flood Insurance Program through November to provide lawmakers additional time to hash out a plan to reform the program that can pass both chambers.

The Senate will meet this week to confirm Robert Wilkie’s nomination for VA Secretary and will consider their second Appropriations Minibus — H.R.6147, Minibus Appropriations – consisting of the Interior/Financial Services and General Government/Agriculture/Transportation and Housing and Urban Development.

Also, on Thursday, MAREK Companies Chief Operating Officer Mike Holland will testify in front of the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee on modernizing apprenticeships to expand opportunities.  You can stream the hearing live.

FOCA Update:

This is the last week that the House is in session before they leave town for the August recess, so if there are any Members of Congress from Legislative Week that committed to cosponsoring H.R. 1552, the Fair and Open Competition Act (FOCA) and have not yet been added as a cosponsor, please let us know and we will reach out to their offices. We are currently at 94 cosponsors.

Last week, 44 Republicans sent a letter urging President Trump to roll back the Project Labor Agreement Executive Order. You can view a full list of signers here and a list of members who signed but are not yet cosponsors of the bill along with their staff and office contact information below. We have reached out to their offices and if your Member of Congress is on that list, we urge you and your members to reach out as well and ask them to cosponsor the bill before the August recess.

ABC Attends White House “Pledge to America’s Workers” Event:

On Thursday, July 19, Associated Builders and Contractors signed on to President Trump’s “Pledge to America’s Workers”, committing to educating and developing at least 500,000 construction workers over the next five years. Video of the event can be viewed here.

The pledge was signed by Greg Sizemore ABC’s VP of environment, health, safety and workforce development, who was joined by representatives of Gaylor Electric Inc. including Brianna DeAngelo, a second-year electrical apprentice, who spoke at the White House signing, emphasizing how much she values the education and career opportunities her apprenticeship program provides. A follow up interview with Greg Sizemore on Fox News can be viewed here.

Two pipefitters from ABC member S & B Engineers and Constructors Ltd. Were also interviewed on the Fox Business show Varney & Co. to talk about opportunities for women to pursue careers in construction.

A big thank you to all those who attended and made this event happen for hardworking Americans in the construction industry. ABC continues to work with the White House and Congress to push for policies that encourage workforce education and development to fill the skills gap.

Persuader Rule:

On July 18, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a final rule to rescind the 2016 persuader rule, officially named the “Interpretation of the ‘Advice’ Exemption in Section 203(c) of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act.” The final rule will go into effect on Aug. 17, 2018.

ABC appreciates all the important work done on this issue, particularly the joint lawsuit filed by ABC of Arkansas and a coalition of stakeholders represented by Cross, Gunter, Witherspoon & Galchus, P.C. and ABC’s general counsel, Littler Mendelson P.C.

Prior Approval Update:

Last week, the House passed H.R. 6147, the Department of the Interior Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, which included the Financial Services appropriations bill and the provision that prohibits funds from being used to enforce the Federal Election Commission’s prior approval requirement for corporate member trade association PACs. Including this language in the House-passed appropriations bill was one of the requests we made of lawmakers during Legislative Week Hill visits.

The Senate looks to take up their version of this appropriations package this week that does not contain a similar provision for prior approval. ABC continues to work with the Prior Approval Reform Coalition (PARC) to urge Senate appropriators to accept the House-passed language in any conference appropriations negotiations. 

WOTUS Update: 

H.R. 6147 also included language to permanently repeal the Obama administration’s Clean Water Rule: Definition of “Waters of the United States” or WOTUS final rule. ABC has continued to advocate for repealing the WOTUS final rule once and for all, and, if signed into law, the bill language will go a long way toward easing the minds of hardworking Americans in the construction industry and ensuring that our economy is not unduly harmed.

Transportation & Infrastructure Update:

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster will release his framework proposal for an infrastructure bill this week. While a long shot for this Congress to pass, the Chairman said he hoped his discussion draft would be “similar … to what [former House Ways and Means Chairman] Dave Camp did when he put out his big tax bill” before departing Congress in 2015. Shuster said his discussion draft would “cover all the bases in infrastructure” and “deal with all the policy pieces,” including pay-fors. We will update members with any additional information we receive on the proposal this week.

Election Update:

ABC supported candidate and Alabama Rep. Martha Roby won her primary runoff last Tuesday. The four term incumbent garnered 67 percent of the vote, defeating opponent and former democratic representative Bobby Bright. Roby is heavily favored to beat Democratic nominee Tabitha Isner, a minister and business analyst, in November.

As we look toward November and some takeaways from the end of the 2^nd quarter fundraising efforts, 54 House Republicans were outraised by their Democratic challengers in the last quarter, a jump from the 43 GOP members in the first quarter. In 25 open, battleground races, Democrats led fundraising in all but two of them. Of those Democratic challengers in GOP-held seats, 22 raised more than $1 million in the last three months.

Republicans in most cases, though, can point to their candidate’s cash on hand as a better metric for financial strength, with only 15 GOP members with less cash on hand than their Democratic opponents. Also, of note Reps. Comstock and Curbelo, both in tough re-election fights, outraised their opponents with Comstock taking in over $1 million and Curbelo with $785,000. Outgoing House Speaker Paul Ryan and his Congressional Leadership Fund also raised $51 million in the last quarter, all of which will go toward holding on to the Republican majority and shoring up members who are lagging financially.

Track Bills in Florida 

• Florida House
• Florida Senate

National Government Affairs 

• National Legislative Issues
• National Grassroots Team

ABC’s Lobbying Team:

Tallahassee

Carol Bowen, ABC Chief Lobbyist
3730 Coconut Creek Parkway, Suite 200
Coconut Creek, FL  33066
cbowen@abceastflorida.com

Additional ABC Lobbyists

Robert Stuart
Chris Carmody
GrayRobinson

Find ABC Chapters across the nation here.

Visit the ABC of Florida website for more information.